


share this moment with me?

by ZionPhoenix



Series: Domestic Immortals and their Shenanigans [15]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Joe mention - Freeform, Light Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:54:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZionPhoenix/pseuds/ZionPhoenix
Summary: "What are you doing?""Drawing." Nicky answers, without looking up from his notebook.ORNile finds out about Nicky's blog.
Relationships: Nile Freeman & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Series: Domestic Immortals and their Shenanigans [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863277
Comments: 6
Kudos: 154





	share this moment with me?

**Author's Note:**

> Ay, so we finally find out about Nicky's blog!
> 
> Sorry for the delayed update, I was out later than anticipated yesterday, so you get it now (I update in the night before I go to bed, to those wondering)
> 
> ~~This has been in the works for a while, and it is finally finished, although I am not as happy with this piece as I could be, I don't know why.~~
> 
> Anyways, this is unbetaed, as usual, so please let me know if you find mistakes, or have any constructive criticism.
> 
> Enjoy!

**February 2020, Belgium**

When Nile comes back from her morning run, Nicky is sitting at the kitchen table, notebook and pencil in hand. They nod in greeting and Nile goes off to take a shower, relishing in the quiet of the flat as she stands under the water.

Nicky is exactly where he was earlier, but now with a cup of tea in front of him. "I made a pot, it's on the stove if you want some." Nile thanks him and goes to the cupboard to fetch a mug.

"What are you doing?" Her curiosity gets the best of her.

"Drawing." Nicky answers, without looking up from his notebook.

"I didn't know you draw." Nile sits down across from him, surprise written across her face.

"I don't do it often, nowadays." He smiles at her. "I'm not really good at it." Nile takes a sip of her tea.

"Can I see?" She senses Nicky's hesitation, and backtracks immediately. "Sorry, I mean you really don't have to, I'm just curious."

"It's okay, don't worry. I just never showed anyone before. Well, except Joe. He's the one who taught me." He puts the notebook down on the table and slides it over to her. Nile stares at the drawing. It's not like Joe's, who can render a person or scene as realistic as a photograph, even in quick sketches, but it's still good. It's a portrait of Joe, anything below his neck only hinted at, but his face is drawn with enough detail to be easily recognisable.

"Wow. This is really good, Nicky! Didn't you just say you're not good?" She looks up at him, sees the smile in his eyes.

"Because I'm not. Joe's face is the only thing I can draw." The look on his face can only be described as sheepish. "And it took me a long time to get to the point that you could recognise him." He accepts the notebook back from Nile's hand. He thinks for a few seconds, before he starts talking again, hands curled around his mug.

"About 500 years ago I asked him to teach me how to draw. It frustrated me how easily he could put things down on paper, on canvas, on whatever medium, really. He has an innate talent for it, but especially for drawing. Of course, he still had to nurture this talent, and had to practise, which is what he did. Mostly by sketching me. And that's the part that frustrated the most. How could he so easily immortalise my face, my body, on paper, but I couldn't? I wanted to return the favour, show him how I see him, just like he did with me. And so he taught me. He was the only thing I ever wanted to draw. And so I only ever drew him. It took decades, centuries, even, until I was even remotely satisfied with my work." He stops talking, thumbs through the notebook to one of the first pages, and flips it for Nile to see.

"This is one I did about 20 or 30 years ago. He was taking a nap, long enough for me to draw him, because I'm also really slow at it. As you can see, I did try to draw his body too, but it didn't turn out well." He laughs softly, when Nile hums in agreement.

"Is that why you do photography?" He beams at her, when she, yet again, gives the notebook back.

"Yes. It comes easier to me than drawing, and I am not limited to his face. What Joe captures on paper, I capture through a lense. All the pictures I take of him or the rest of the family, I print out. Keeping them on a device is too risky, and hard drives can break too easily. Of course, printed pictures can be easily lost or destroyed as well, but there's just something about being able to hold them in my hand, you know?" She doesn't, not really, too used to having photographs in digital form only, but hums anyways.

"And what about your memories?" She asks, thinking about Joe's sketchbooks filled with memories upon memories, stories upon stories, waiting to be told.

"Well, that's the thing about photography, isn't it? I can only capture what's there, right in that moment. For my memories I rely on Joe. He draws them for me. And if he isn't there, I write them down with as much detail as I can. I try to write down the ones he draws as well, though."

"I've never seen you do that."

"It's meditative for me, I usually do it before I go to bed, or in the early morning while everyone else is still asleep."

For a few minutes they fall into a comfortable silence. "You know about Joe's blog, yes?"

"Yeah." She waits for him to continue, but from the way he looks at her, he seems to be waiting for her. And then she gets it. "Wait, the pictures he posts, those are yours?"

"Yes. All of the photographs on his blog are mine. The older ones we had to digitize first, of course, which was, uh, an interesting project."

"That's nice that you have a part in his blog like that."

"Well, we basically have a part in everything the other does. He gets to use some of my photos for his blog, and sometimes he draws my photos with charcoal. People always think I put on a black and white filter at first glance." He chuckles into his mug. Nile's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What people?" She asks, not sure if she wants to know the answer.

"My followers. I post some of my photos on Instagram." If Nile hadn't put her cup down before asking, she would have dropped it right now.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No. Wait, let me show you." He takes out his phone, and taps a few times before handing it over to Nile. It's an Instagram profile, and as she reads the username she recognises it as the source of the pictures on Joe's blog. She scrolls through slowly, in awe.

"Holy shit, Nicky these are amazing!" He ducks his head, and Nile is sure he is blushing. She swipes through the pictures of another post. "Damn, you do editing?"

"Sometimes, yes. When I have an inspiration. It is fun to play around with the program, even if I don't always end up with what I envision. But that's the beauty of learning things, no? That you can make mistakes, but still learn despite and especially because of them."

Nile just nods, turning the words over in her head, as she gives Nicky his phone back. He puts it back in his pocket, and gets up, picking up his mug as he does. On the way to the kitchen he pats her shoulder reassuringly, and then leaves her alone with her thoughts.

A few months later, in another city in another country, she finds a book on photo editing and manipulation. The hug Nicky gives her as he mumbles his thanks into her ear is the best she's ever gotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I wouldn't call an Instagram a blog, but also couldn't think of another word (that wasn't "instagram"), so that's what I went with the whole time. Sorry ~~not sorry~~ if that was a bit misleading :D
> 
> So, was that what you thought it would be? If not, what kind of blog did you have in mind?
> 
> As always, I highly appreciate kudos and comments of any kind!


End file.
